Long Shot
| Next = | Episode list = Season 1}} The Major Crimes Division works with the FBI to catch a sniper who kills a judge during a ceremony and may be on the hunt for an eyewitness who can identify him. The Victim * Judge Howard Cully, 59-years-old. Shot during the swearing in ceremony. Originally believed to be collateral damage in an attempt to kill Dr. Massoud but eventually found out to have been the intended target all along. * Gustavo Reyes, handyman at the apartment complex where the Sniper shot the Judge from. Killed by the Sniper when he came looking for his son who caught him in the apartment. The Suspects * The Sniper, a professional hitman connected to the cartels. Assasinated multiple people who were prominent figures in the movement to legalize marijuana. Evidence * 5.56 boat-tail match-grade rifle bullet recovered from the pool which killed Judge Cully. * Five death threats to Dr. Aamil Massoud. * Apartment where the shot was fired, about 500 yards away. * Torn away screen door leading to the balcony. * Bullet hole in the wall of the apartment, leading the investigators to believe there was a witness who the killer tried to shoot. * Skidmarks at the apartment complex garage. * Mirror from a black car, found it the apartment complex garage. * Security footage from an ATM camera. * Seating chart for the swearing-in ceremony. * Right Shot Target System, a top-of-the-line weapon attachment. * A marijuana case Judge Cully was about to preside over, which would have most likely opened the door for legal marijuana cultivation in California. * Five unsolved "assasinations" all over the country, two of which also targeted prominent figures in the movement to legalize marijuana. Plot Starting the Investigation The episode starts at the swearing-in ceremony for the new Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Aamil Massoud. Present at the ceremony is Assistant Chief Taylor along with Mayor Quintero and Judge Howard Cully, the person conducting the swearing in ceremony. After a short speech by the Mayor, the swearing in ceremony begins. Only after a few words, the Judge collapses from what is thought to be a medical emergency at first. Soon though, it's seen that he has been shot and a rapid evacuation of the venue begins. Taylor orders a six-block perimeter to be set up along with helicopters to be sent out scanning the nearby rooftops. In the next scene, Major Crimes Division Det. Sykes is recovering a bullet from the nearby pool, which Lt. Tao identifies as a 5.56 boat-tail match-grade round fired from a precision rifle, indicating a professional hit. Taylor tells Capt. Raydor that he heard a "little snap" but didn't think much about it and though the Judge was having a heart attack. Raydor asks if Threat Management has any background on the victim, which they don't, but apparently Dr. Aamil Massoud has received five death threats in the last two weeks, mostly from parents worried about a Muslim being in charge of their childrens' education. Taylor also tells Raydor that Massoud is on his way to the PAB to talk with her. Raydor asks Lt. Provenza if the snipers "nest" has been located yet but before he answers, he arranges a demonstration for Raydor which helps them narrow down that the shot came from a tall apartment complex across the street. After finding the right apartment, Tao deduces that the killer was further back in the room, rather than out in the balkony in order to avoid detection. Sykes notes that the victim was about 500 yards away, a range that usually requires a spotter, though Det. Sanchez notes that a pro shooter might have special equipment. Sanchez also notices that a screen door had been taped across the door to the balcony, as the tape was still on the door frame. Sykes notes that a screen door wouldn't interfere with the killers optics and would make him practically invisible from the street. Tao continues with the observation that the killer wasn't just standing in the room, he'd have had to have been higher somehow, like on the kitchen table. Raydor orders a full SID sweep of the apartment, along with Buzz to check for security footage around the building in hopes of catching a glimpse of the shooter. Working the Case Next, Raydor questions the building's handyman, Gustavo Reyes, who tells her that the apartment is for sale and therefore would usually be empty. When asked about the keys to the apartment, Reyes tells Raydor that everyone at the sales desk has one as well as himself (plus a spare set at his home). At this point, Sykes finds a bullet hole in the wall, indicatind that someone else was at the apartment and that they could have a witness. Raydor notes that there isn't any blood so maybe the witness got away from the killer. Sanchez then follows are trail of footprints from the stairwell to the parking garage, though there were once again no blood anywhere and no more bullet holes. Sanchez tells Sykes to go look for a body at the other side of the garage while he checks the other side. Meanwhile, Tao finds fresh skidmarks at the ground, indicating that someone was driving at very higs speeds, possibly their witness. Also, Raydor finds a car mirror that looks to have been recently knocked off a car, while Buzz reports to Tao that he has got some security footage from nearby ATM camera. The security footage shows a red-and-white car running a red light approximately six minutes after the shooting and Provenza suggests it's the witness trying to escape. Unfortunately the license plate of the vehicle is not clear and would take some prosessing to make out. Sanchez identifies the car as a late '70s Pontiac Phoenix and tells Raydor that there aren't many of them around anymore and goes to look for one through the DMV. Following the car is a black BMW which is missing its driver-side mirror, matching what they found in the garage and Provenza notes it can't be a coincidence. At this point, Chief Taylor arrives with Dr. Massoud and FBI Special Agent Howard, who has been arranging protection for Massoud and his family until the situation is resolved. Howard also reports that the FBI is monitoring hate-group websites to see if there is any talk of the attack. Raydor then turns her attention to Dr. Massoud, stating that assasinations are usually about something bigger than just the target, asking him if he was proposing any educational policy changes. Massoud states that his most controversial suggestion so far seems to have been updating the sex-education courses. Then, Det. Sykes arrives with the seating chart for the swearing-in ceremony which shows where everyone was supposed to be on the platform, it even shows Judge Cully and Dr. Massoud at the microphone stand. Dr. Massoud confirms that the arrangement was correct, it was just like they were at that morning and how they rehearsed it the day before, meaning everyone was where they were supposed to be. Tao then reveals how he thinks the killer managed without a spotter, called the Right Shot Target System. The system is a top-of-the-line attachment that projects the precise point of impact into the rifle scope, taking into account all the factors that would interfere with a long-distance shot making it nearly impossible to miss. Taylor then asks why the sniper didn't hit his target, to which Raydor notes that maybe he did and the Judge was the target all along. The Judge, though, has no blemishes on his record and has been a State Judge for 18 years. According to the Judge's calendar he has another 23 cases pending in the upcoming few months. Special Agent Howard then asks if any of the cases are drug-related, which the files unfortunately don't say. This raises some eyebrows on the squad and Provenza asks Howard why he asked that, and Howard claimed it was just out of curiosity. Sykes then reports that after googling Judge Cully, the first news article that comes up is about a marijuana case which is expected to open the door for legal marijuana cultivation in California in defiance of federal law. Flynn then notes to Howard that it's quite a coincidence he just happened to ask about drug-related cases. Howard replies that it was "just a hunch" but asks for a closer look at the bullet that killed the Judge and based on that, he could probably tell them something "more definitive." He also requests that the LAPD doesn't call for a DDA yet, as the US Attorney's Office might want to take the case instead. Revisiting the problem with the license plate of the Pontiac Phoenix, the computer software still hasn't managed to clean up the image enough to make a positive identification and Buzz thinks it might be another hour before anything comes up. Provenza also reports that they've been "combing the books" for unsolved sniper homicides trying to figure out what Special Agent Howard didn't want to share with them. There is five unsolved "assasinations" and two of the victims were prominent figures in the movement to legalize marijuana. One was a city councilman and one was a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent, both shot with a 5.56 match-grade precision rifle. At this point, Special Agent Howard walks in with Chief Taylor and tells the squad that because of the rifle, the case now belongs to the FBI. Turns out the bullet from the Judge came from the same weapon that was used in the other two "marijuana assasinations." According to Howard, marijuana legalization is the last thing the cartels want the U.S. to do and apparently the cartels have hired a pro, a ghost, whose identity is unknown even to the federal government as he never leaves any trace of himself. Flynn notes that the FBI is no further along than them but Taylor notes that it doesn't matter, as the murder of a DEA Agent means that the FBI has jurisdiction and that the LAPD needs to stand down, as the FBI has the manpower, and budget, to chase an international assassin. Raydor states to Taylor that she understands but right after he leaves, she tells the squad that they still have the legal obligation to search for and determine the identity of their possible witness. Provenza also notes that their assassin is most likely looking for that witness as well. Raydor then states that before they pass that "suggestion" on to the FBI, she'd like to be certain of all the facts as she doesn't want to send the federal government on a wild-goose chase. Short time after this, the computer finally processes the security footage enough to make out a licence plate. They got the address from the vehicle registration and sent patrol officers to pick their witness but unfortunately the witness doesn't live at that address anymore. The officer did report that the woman who lives there sold the car a few weeks ago and he got the new owner's address from her. Tao ran an utility check on the address and found out it belongs to Gustavo Reyes, the handyman at the apartment where the sniper shot the Judge from. The previous owner of the Pontiac also told the officers that someone else had just called about the vehicle as well, and Flynn thinks that it might have been their killer. Closing the Case The squad races to the Reyes house but they unfortunately find Gustavo dead, having only missed his killer by a few moments as they could still smell the gunpowder in the air. Provenza calls Raydor to the back of the house where he shows her Gustavo's son's room, thinking it must've been him in the apartment that morning. Flynn identifies the son as Angel and Raydor wonders why he didn't call the police. Sykes suggest that maybe he shouldn't have been in the building and Sanchez suggests that maybe Angel is not supposed to be in the U.S. at all, as the Pontiac sale wasn't transferred properly and there is no insurance on the vehicle, meaning that Gustavo and his son are probably both undocumented immigrants. They hypothesize that the killer came to the house looking for Angel who wasn't home and when Gustavo refused to help him, he killed him. Raydor notices that the killer had searched Angel's room but hadn't looked everywhere and Flynn suggested that maybe the killer found what he was looking for before he needed to search the entire room. Provenza states that if that is the case, the killer probably knows where Angel is already. Raydor finds an apron in the boy's closet, suggesting he works at a restaurant somewhere and if they want to save his life, they need to find him fast. After finding out the restaurant where Angel works at, Raydor calls in the FBI, knowing that the front seat of Angel's car is the one place the killer can be sure of him being and knowing he will target it. They set up a sting operation with Sanchez and Sykes working as valet and Raydor, Flynn, Provenza, Tao, and FBI Special Agents Fritz Howard and Goodwin acting as customers. Inside the restaurant, the customers have all been replaced by LAPD officers and a helicopter flew over about 10 minutes before but didn't see anything suspicious and and a second fly-over was deemed too risky. Howard and Goodwin make it clear that they want the killer alive, hoping he turns on his bosses in the cartel in hopes of catching high-ranking members. After identifying Angel, Howard, Provenza, Flynn, and Raydor confront him and he explains he was at the apartment in hopes of setting it up for a romantic date with his girlfriend and found the killer who shot at him. Angel is able to provide a good description of the killer and explains that he didn't come to the police as he and his father are illegal immigrants from Mexico. His father used to be a police officer in Mexico and after his enemies murdered the rest of their family, they fled to the United States for safety, giving up everything in the process. Howard promises Angel they won't deport him, but fails to tell him of his father's death. As the restaurant is getting full and the killer isn't coming out, Raydor has Sykes and Julio move the employees' cars under the pretense of making more room in the parking lot to move Angel's car into a less open spot. It works and when Angel goes to his car, the hidden killer shoots him before being confronted by the squad and Howard. When the killer points his weapon at them, Flynn, Tao, Sykes, and Sanchez are forced to fatally shoot him. Raydor tries to get his name from him but he refuses to give it up before dying. The man the killer shot was actually Agent Goodwin in disguise, sent out to draw the killer out and he is revealed to be unharmed due to a bulletproof vest. They aren't able to identify the shooter, though Howard believes they will eventually figure it out. Angel is also taken into Witness Protection for his own safety and Howard told the squad he would be personally handling the case for the FBI. Guest Cast * Mark Semos (Mysterious Sniper) * Ramon Franco (Gustavo Reyes) * Anthony Del Rio (Angel Reyes) * Cas Anvar (Dr. Aamil Massoud, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent of Schools) * David Hoflin (Special Agent Goodwin, Federal Bureau of Investigation) * William C. Mitchell (Judge Howard Cully) * Nadia Shazana (Mrs. Massoud) Recurring * Robert Gossett (Assistant Chief Russell Taylor) * Jon Tenney (Special Agent Fritz Howard, Federal Bureau of Investigation) * Eric Garcetti (Mayor Ramon Quintero) * Ransford Doherty (Coroner's Investigator Kendall) * Ian Bohen (Daniel Dunn) Locations Episode Notes * Capt. Raydor mentions "Threat Management" at the beginning of the episode. "Threat Management" is the Threat Management Unit of the Detective Support Division which is responsible for assuming all investigative responsibility for selected cases wherein an individual demonstrates an abnormal fixation and generates a long-term pattern of harassment, threats, stalking, or unsolicited acts of visitation or communication in an annoying or threatening manner; and investigating all written and verbal threats of harm to public officials or prominent persons. Goofs * Assistant Chief Russell Taylor could be seen wearing his service awards but he had them on the wrong side. Awards are to be worn above the left breast pocket, just below the badge but Taylor had them above his right breast pocket. The correct order of precedence was also not followed, meaning the awards were in the wrong order. * When the Snipers view of the ceremony platform was seen, it's evident that the bullet that killed the Judge would have been buried in the platform rather than in the pool as was shown. * At 22:25, moments after Buzz Watson enters Sharon's office with the cleaned-up image of Angel Reyes' license plate, Buzz's computer is shown still trying to clean up the image. * At about 28 minutes in, Lieutenant Tao calls Sharon Raydor "Chief" instead of "Captain." Trivia Episode Media Category:Major Crimes Category:MC Season 1 Category:Episodes Category: Season Finale